This story was researched and written by Fresh Cup in partnership with our sponsor, Current Coffee Summit.
On September 29-30, coffee professionals will gather in St. Louis for the inaugural Current Coffee Summit to share what’s working now and explore what’s coming next. The new event aims to reimagine the lecture-forward summit model, swapping talks for hands-on learning, like equipment testing and brewing across different formats.
The summit will be hosted at First Crack Coffee, a St. Louis-based co-roasting and education facility. Current Coffee is also planning additional leader summits and a new line of entrepreneur-focused events for 2027.
Randy Anderson, long-time cold brew consultant and inventor of the ColdPerk, is among the keynote speakers exploring the value of cold coffee concentrate and batch espresso. “So much of what I and others like me are hearing about coffee is pretty fragmented, whether it’s through social media, trade shows, or even just sitting across a table” Anderson says. “This is why we are bringing the people working on solutions into one room.”
Attendees will participate in conversations spanning pre-batching espresso, automation and systems, the drive-thru/specialty crossover, what’s working in marketing, and more.
Speakers and workshop leaders at the event include:
- Chris Maybury, founder of Australia’s experimental Beta Coffee and notorious advocate of pre-batch espresso
- Javi Alvarez, co-founder of Espresso State of Mind, an education and events platform for industry professionals
- Brandon Sardi, founder of Poorboy Coffee, coffee catering expert, and rising content creator
- Other coffee business operators and industry professionals specializing in automation, water quality, menu innovation, and profitability
We spoke with Anderson to learn more about the event and how it will support coffee leaders. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
First of all, why do you think the industry needs a new event like this?
Retail coffee is changing in a different way than when we saw the 3rd wave changes we saw in the 90’s and into the next couple of decades. Supply and labor costs are increasing; consumer expectations and preferences are shifting; technology is changing how cafes operate; and operators are being asked to balance quality, faster service, a stronger focus on hospitality, and healthier margins all at the same time.
Rather than focusing on what was working ten years ago we want to look at what’s working now, what’s coming next, and how newer, more workable solutions can help with that balancing act. I see solutions such as batch espresso, automation, extraction, water quality, alternative beverages, hospitality, training, and operational efficiency helping to better define what the coffee shop of the future could look like.
The goal is for people to leave with ideas they can actually take back to their businesses and use.
What will the two days of the summit look like?
It’s an operator workshop in an innovation lab. Current is built around participation, experimentation, and practical learning. There will be presentations, but we don’t want speakers just standing on a stage telling an audience what the future looks like. We are bringing hands-on involvement with operators to get their viewpoint and feedback. We want to get them involved in the conversation.
That means seeing new equipment and processes firsthand, tasting products, asking questions, comparing experiences, and discussing if these ideas actually make sense inside a real cafe.
Topics include extraction and coffee science, Japanese tea and the future of matcha, batch espresso, automation, speed and workflow, water quality, hospitality, and the future of the coffee shop. We’ll bring those ideas together through larger conversations such as “The Coffee Shop Five Years From Now.”
The website calls speakers “the people shaping coffee.” What does that mean?
We’re less interested in a conventional speaker list built on titles or name recognition. We want people who are actively building, testing, teaching, or challenging something in coffee right now. Oftentimes, a trade show or seminar is simply a stage for marketing. This really is about discovery and the back-and-forth conversations that we feel need to happen. I think the Current Coffee Summit is the best place to start.
We really want to broaden the scope of those conversations to include operators, educators, entrepreneurs, hospitality leaders, and people developing new approaches to extraction, equipment, and cafe operations.
What’s next for Current after this first event?
We’re expanding significantly in 2027. The Current Coffee Summit is our event for established professionals, and the second one is set for February 22 and 23.
We will also have eight sessions of a new Current Entrepreneur Summit. These will be five-day, immersive events designed specifically for people who are preparing to open a coffee focused business or are in the early stages of building one.
This event tailored to entrepreneurs will cover roasting coffee, sourcing green coffee, developing and building their own brand, comparing different extraction methods and equipment, thinking through cafe layouts and workflow, understanding operational flow, and exploring current and emerging industry trends and modern equipment solutions.
The five-day format will give us the opportunity to go far deeper than a two-day event. These events are designed for newer coffee businesses that need a stronger foundation and a broader understanding of the industry.
The Pro events are about pushing established businesses forward. The Entrepreneur Summits are about helping the next generation build their businesses right from the beginning.
Registration for the September 29–30 event is open now at currentcoffeesummit.com.
Sponsored by Current Coffee Summit
Current Coffee Summit is a new hands-on event that brings coffee leaders together to explore innovations and ideas shaping the next era of coffee.
